Rubik's Cube
by Maple-jelly
Summary: Mentalist AU - Lisbon has to care for her niece whilst her dad is in hospital. Unfortunately, Cobie isn't like your average eight year old, and her strange quirks often leave Lisbon baffled, whilst Jane finds it all rather amusing..
1. Beginning

**A/N: Fixed the block text, hadn't realised it was unreadable!**

"In exactly three minutes, the toast will be ready." Cobie didn't look up as Lisbon walked into the room.  
"Good, but why aren't you dressed yet? You know we have to leave soon if we don't want to be late."  
"Time is a human invention, but it isn't defined by anything real," replied Cobie, busy at work on a Rubik's cube.  
It was best not to reply, thought Lisbon as she put the kettle to boil. Coffee was definitely needed. She glanced out of the window at the light rain. The weather had been detestable lately, colder than the past winter, and just as wet. The toast popped up with a _sproing _and Cobie came running in.  
"That was two minutes and thirty-three seconds. I timed it. The toaster is faulty."  
"The toaster isn't faulty. It's probably just not set to exactly three minutes. Why don't you finish your puzzle whilst I prepare breakfast?"  
"The Rubik's cube. I did finish it. Two minutes and thirty-one seconds." Cobie grabbed the pieces of toast from the toaster, and inspected them.  
"What are you doing?" asked Lisbon.  
"I'm checking to see if both sides are toasted equally," replied Cobie. "Yes, mostly, they are. This toaster is not so bad."

The rain was still lightly drizzling as Lisbon hurried a reluctant Cobie into the car, Rubik's cube in hand.  
"Did you really need to take that thing?" asked Lisbon, as she rustled through her purse to find the car keys.  
"Yes."  
"Fine, fine.. Make sure your seatbelt is fastened, please. Oh, is that the time already?" She located the keys and started the car just as the rain was letting up. A faint sliver of sunshine was peeking tentatively through the thick, grey mass of clouds, and she thought she just might cheer up a bit if the weather continued to turn in that direction. The car eased through the streets. There was relatively no traffic, and they passed no red lights. Things were perking up somewhat.  
"Right, remember what we talked about last night?" asked Lisbon.  
"No. At night, we have to sleep. We don't talk."  
"In the evening, I meant."  
"At what time?"  
"Look, I don't know what time exactly. That's not the point. Remember what I told you about how to behave today?"  
"Be quiet, and no running around. Except if there's a fire. If there's a fire, I have to tell someone, and pull the alarm, then leave the building. Our teacher told us. If there's a fire, you can shout."  
They arrived at the CBI offices and Lisbon parked the car.  
"Just remember the important things: no running around, and no asking people lots of questions, understand?" Lisbon got out of the car, and went to open the rear door.  
"Let's go," she said.  
"I think maybe I can stay in here. I don't want to go," said Cobie.  
"No, no staying in the car. Come on, let's go, I'm late already!" She tried to undo Cobie's seatbelt, but she resisted and fought back.  
"I don't want to go in there!"  
A voice by her side made her jump. "Having a little trouble, Lisbon?"  
She turned around to face Patrick Jane, who grinned at her most amiably. "I can deal with this, Jane." She turned back to the car, where Cobie was decidedly _not_ moving.  
"Right, I'm going to count to three.."  
"What will happen when you reach three?" asked Jane.  
"Jane, I don't need your snarky comments."  
"I was just wondering, is all. It's usually more effective if there's a consequence involved.."  
Lisbon ignored him. "One.."  
Cobie was also ignoring them both.  
"Two.."  
"She's not going to come out. You need a different approach," said Jane.  
"Yes, because you're an expert on young-" Lisbon's voice trailed off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"  
"It's fine." Jane was still smiling, and he seemed unaffected, but Lisbon knew from experience how to detect the small changes in his facial expressions, and he had been hurt.  
"Do you want to try and get her out of the car? Please?"  
Jane walked to the other side of the car and got in. "Hi, I'm Patrick Jane. What's your name?"  
"Cobie."  
"That's a nice name. Can I see that?" Jane asked, gesturing to the Rubik's cube.  
"It's a Rubik's cube. Can you solve it?"  
"If I solve it, will you come inside the building?"  
"All right. If you solve it."  
Lisbon peered inside. "Well? What are you doing? You were meant to help me."  
"Lisbon! So little faith. Trust me. We'll be inside in no time."  
"Are you _playing_ with her?"  
Jane grinned at her as he deftly moved the cube components around. "Trust me, Lisbon." After a few more moves, he triumphantly held the cube up for her to see. "All finished!"  
"And how does that he-" Lisbon's sentence was cut short as Cobie got out of the car.  
"Just so you know, I don't want to be here and I'm not happy about this," said Cobie.  
"It's just for today, Cobie," replied Lisbon. "You'll be fine."


	2. Jane The Babysitter

Lisbon and Jane were just on time for the 'meeting'. It really wasn't so much a meeting as a discussion on what to do next in the case of the missing banker. It was one of the less interesting cases, and though Lisbon would wish no harm on the missing person, there was little indicating he hadn't just disappeared of his own free will.

"Hi, Rigsby, Van Pelt," greeted Lisbon.  
She was greeted in return by questioning stares.  
"This is my niece, Cobie," offered Lisbon by way of an explanation, but there was to be no more talk on the matter. "Let's get to work," she said, ushering Cobie into her office and sternly warning her to stay put until she came back.

The office _must_ be explored, decided Cobie. No drawers could be left unopened, no object left untouched. The meeting was a short one, and so, by the time Cobie had picked up and examined every object in the room, Lisbon was back.  
"I have to go do some work in another part of town, she said, but Patrick is staying and will keep an eye on you, OK?"  
Truth be told, Lisbon wasn't 100% okay with the idea of Jane keeping an eye on her niece, but after all, he'd had a daughter and he was good with children..  
"Patrick. He solved the Rubik's cube challenge," replied Cobie.  
"Yes, very good. Be good and don't cause any trouble, all right? I won't be too long, I hope, and then we can have a nice lunch."  
"What will it be?"  
"Uh, I don't know. We'll see."  
"Burgers?"  
"Sure, why not.. We can figure that out later," said Lisbon, glancing at the clock and realising she needed to go in... two minutes ago. Darn.  
"Tacos?"  
"Look, I don't know, Cobie. We can figure it out later. You can tell me what you want when I come back," replied Lisbon, hurrying to the elevator as she finished her sentence.  
Cobie was trailing after her, shouting food names in rapid succession. They were getting weirder by the second.  
"Sandwiches?" A short pause. "Pasta?" Another pause. Why wasn't the damn elevator coming? "Risotto? Soup? Tomatoes? Plums? Salad? Fries? Cheese? Cookies? Olives? Breadsticks?"

Lisbon had a feeling Cobie had veered off track, and was now simply reciting any food name that popped into her head. And where was Jane? she wondered. Was it really right to leave him in charge? With a ping, the elevator opened, and Jane was inside.  
"You were outside? Why?" asked Lisbon.  
"Just getting some supplies," he replied, grinning and holding up a plastic bag.  
"Do I want to know what's in there?" asked Lisbon.  
"You should go, he replied, some people are waiting for you in the car park!"  
Grimacing at him, Lisbon finally got in the elevator, and off she went.  
Patrick turned to Cobie with a smile.  
"Well, it's just you and me now, kiddo."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Hopefully I'll update sooner rather than later.**


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